Congratulations Khun Mint!

Piraya Kampun (nickname Mint) received her BSc. Bachelor’s degree after graduating from the Faculty of Education in Chemistry at Chiang Mai Rajabhat University.
Now, she is a teacher at Baan Wiang Thakan School, in San Patong.

The Buddy Bear Project is an ongoing project of the Buddies Society of Ipoh. Its aim is to bring comfort and cheer to HIV/AIDS children in Malaysia and all over the world. Presently these bears are being sewn single-handedly by a couple of senior citizens in Ipoh. Thanks to them we have more than 2,500 bears in our stock ready for delivery upon request.

The Buddies Society of Ipoh, Malaysia has been making Buddy Bears for Rejoice for several years.  The SWAY below captures some "Buddy"moments.

On Tuesday, 6th March 2018 the Rejoice team together with Kanda, HIV healthcare worker from Chiang Dao visited Wiang Haeng. It took almost four hours to reach the healthcare workers, Samak and Mam at their home in Wiang Haeng.

U.S. Consul General visit Koung-Jor Shan refugee camp

The U.S. Consul General visited Koung-Jor Shan refugee camp in Chiang Mai Province at the Thai-Myanmar border on Tuesday (February 13) to inquire about health, education, and living conditions of the refugees.

This time of year the weather in Chiang Mai is usually perfect, hot sunny days and cool evenings and Rejoice is fortunate to receive visits and donations from individuals from various countries.

Thank you all

Rejoice was invited to a special meeting on January 24th, 2018 at Chiang Dao Hospital.  The meeting was called to discuss treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus especially among patients with HIV.  Present at the meeting were doctors, nurses, pharmacists, HIV healthcare volunteers from Chiang Dao Hospital and the Rejoice team.

Lee Kingston has been sponsoring Kannika, through the Rejoice Scholarship programme, since she was 10 years old, she is now 17. Lee makes regular visits to Rejoice and to Kannika.

Friday, 5th January 2018 was his most recent visit to Kannika and her mother. He gave Kannika a small present for her 17th birthday which fell on 29th December 2017.

In recognition of Lee's help and generosity we have prepared the following SWAY summary outlining his contribution to Rejoice to date.

Chai Prakan Children's Party

On Saturday, 6th January at Chai Prakan hospital, HIV-positive volunteers from the Chai Prakan club "Fighting HIV with a Smile", held a joint New Year's Eve and National Children's Day Party for children with HIV and children affected by HIV. 

15 children (between 7-15 years old) attended the party.

Mae Ai and Chai Prakan

On 19th and 20th December 2017 the Rejoice team visited a Shan family faced with problems of having to purchase their antiviral medicine since the time period of the NAPHA Extension programme (via the Global Fund for Aids) has now ended.

After overnight in Fang the Rejoice team made their way to Chai Prakan hospital where they met volunteers Oy and Yut who accompanied them on house calls in a Lahu village..

Living with HIV on Myanmar Border

John and Ian live in Southern France. They arrived in Chiang Mai in November 2017. On 29th November, together with Rejoice they met up with volunteer health care workers Noi and Pon and visited 3 locations on the Myanmar border. Below is a summary of the day's events.

Jeannette Wong's Project with Rejoice Charity

Jeannette Wong, the daughter of Winston Wong, the Country Manager of SDL in Thailand, organized a visit to Rejoice in Chiang Mai, for a group of 10 first and second year medical students from Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok. The objective of the visit was to gather information concerning mother to child transmission of HIV in rural communities.

Trust and Communication

The work of Rejoice depends upon building the trust of people living with HIV. Making repeated visits to remote home and villages takes time and can be frustrating when confidentiality should be maintained, and the language of the patient is not Thai but the language of one of the many hill-tribes.
The Lahu are a close-knit, independent hill-tribe which continues to maintain many traditions and language and often communication is often difficult.